January 7, 2014

Yellen Confirmed as Fed Chair Despite Knee-Jerk Republican Opposition

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Janet Yellen has been confirmed as Fed chair with 56 votes. Bad weather kept a lot of senators out of town, but even if everyone had been present she would have gotten no more than about 66 votes:

It is the thinnest margin of Senate approval for a Fed chairman in the central bank’s history. Mr. Bernanke was confirmed for a second term as chairman with 70 yes votes and 30 no votes in 2010.

Only 11 Republicans voted for Yellen’s confirmation, despite the fact that she’s perhaps the best qualified nominee in history; has demonstrated considerable foresight during her term as vice-chair; and almost literally has provided no reason to vote against her. But it doesn’t matter. She’s Obama’s nominee, so she has to be opposed. If Republicans want to know why Democrats finally got fed up enough to change the filibuster rules, this vote speaks louder than any words possibly could.

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We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

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